


Catch Me If You Can

by sleepydanceur



Category: EXO (Band), SHINee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Bounty Hunters, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-24 19:38:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7520539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepydanceur/pseuds/sleepydanceur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bounty hunters in space!AU. Taemin and Jongin as rival bounty hunters who clash when they both go after the same mark.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Catch Me If You Can

**Author's Note:**

> My fic for the Taekai fest! This AU was super fun to write, I hope you guys enjoy it! ;u;

“I’ll have a Nebula Cloud, on the rocks, please,” Jongin says, sliding into one of the seats by the bar counter. It’s been a long week of recon and chases; it’s been a while since he’s been able to find a moment where he can just sit and relax with a drink. 

The bartender sets the glass down on a napkin and Jongin curls his fingers around the cool glass, nodding his thanks. The bar is surprisingly empty at this hour, with only a handful of people sitting at the tables. Jongin recognizes the crests from the New Colonies huddled in a corner, and the green haired travellers from the Valley going for another round of shots. 

The one that really catches his eye is the human, sitting across from him at the other end of the counter, sipping his own drink. His hair falls into his face but Jongin still catches him stealing a look back, his lips curling into a smile behind the rim of his glass. He’s never seen him around here before. 

“Hey, Moonkyu,” the barman turns when Jongin calls, slinging the dish cloth over his shoulder. “That guy over there. Who is he?”

Moonkyu steals a subtle glance over his shoulder, grinning when he sees who Jongin’s talking about. 

“Why? Would you like me to send him a drink on your behalf?” he says slyly, throwing Jongin a sleazy wink, already filling a glass with liquor before he even says anything. Jongin decides not to protest, watching as Moonkyu makes his way over to the man, sliding the drink onto the countertop before him and murmurs something. The man looks up, staring straight at Jongin, his smile growing wider as he accepts the drink. Jongin flushes all the way down to his neck, but holds the gaze, offering a smile of his own. 

A loud beep tears his attention away abruptly and Jongin nearly spills his drink all over himself. Yanking his sleeve up, he taps the black screen of his wristwatch and Baekhyun’s hologram rises from the surface, calling from their ship’s control centre.

“Really not a good time, hyung,” Jongin grumbles, taking another sip from the drink he’d managed to salvage. 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Baekhyun quirks an eyebrow. “I’ll just text Kliss and tell him to wait till you’re done, I’m sure he’d love to accomodate your schedule.” 

Jongin chokes on his drink this time, shoving the glass onto the counter haphazardly and pushes his stool back. 

“You found him?” Jongin wheezes, still coughing. He tugs the earpiece out from the little compartment on the side of the wristwatch, stuffing it into his ear and grabbing his jacket off the counter. The hologram disappears and Baekhyun’s voice comes through the com in his ear instead, loud and clear. 

“I got a hit on the radar just now; he’s already on the move.”

Jongin takes off running, tearing out of the bar and out into the street. They’ve been chasing after this guy since the bounty on his head got doubled a week ago. They nearly caught him too after finding him trying to hide out in the Rocky Planes but he just slipped Jongin’s grasp enough to get away and disappear. This is the first time Baekhyun’s picked up any sign of him on their radar since then and Jongin needs to move fast, determined to get him this time. 

He spares a second to think wistfully about the man at the bar and the great night he could have had. 

“Tell me where,” Jongin says, shaking the thought out of his head to listen for Baekhyun’s directions. He stumbles a little on the bend, slightly woozy from the drink he’d had. He’s always been terrible at holding down his alcohol. 

“Maybe if you didn’t have a liver capacity the size of my thumb-”

“Shut _up_ ,” Jongin grunts, rolling his eyes at Baekhyun’s cackles. 

“Take a left, cut through the alley,” Baekhyun instructs quickly, turning serious again. Jongin skirts into the narrow alley, reaching around to pull his laser gun out from the holster on his belt, getting ready. 

“Next block, straight ahead,” Baekhyun says and Jongin puts in another burst of speed into his step. “Try not to miss this time.” 

“Swear to god, when I get back, I’ll practice on you.”

“That’s the spirit.”

Jongin sees a dark, cloaked figure crossing the street just up ahead. The hood is pulled over his head but Jongin still catches a glimpse of his face, the clear electric blue tinge of his skin easily recognizable. Kliss’s eyes widen in recognition and he bolts, running straight for the closest building he can find and scales up the wall easily, boosting himself up with his webbed fingers. 

Holstering the gun again, Jongin takes a long stride and leaps onto the dumpster by the wall of the building, using it to propel him up onto the horizontal flagpole nailed to the wall. He swings himself around with one calculated move, twisting to bring his feet down on the pole and balance himself. It’s high enough that he can reach the fire escape in one jump, not bothering with the stairs and just hoists himself up on the railing bars till he gets to the rooftop. 

Baekhyun’s cheering him on through the coms, only slightly distracting although Jongin can’t help grinning. This hands-on, close range approach is what he’s always been best at, the laser guns coming in second when it comes to skill. 

He straightens up, seeing Kliss’s fleeing figure on the other end of the roof, ready to jump across to the next building. Jongin speeds up, hot on his heels in an attempt not to let him slip out of his sight again. 

Kliss tries to throw him off by diving off the edge, landing on the street below with inhuman ease but Jongin acts quickly, leaping onto one of the power cables and slicing it up with his knife, praying that he doesn’t get electrocuted as he swings back down onto the street. 

He’s got him in sight, just a few steps ahead and Jongin is starting to gain on him, reaching back to bring out his laser gun again. 

Jongin doesn’t get a chance to pull the trigger though, watching startled as Kliss gets hit by another streak of green laser beams that shoot out from somewhere to his right. Jongin skids to a stop, watching Kliss get hurled into a wall with the force of the shot, crumpling motionlessly on the ground, unconscious. 

Jongin looks around warily, ready to take cover if the next volley of lasers turns to him next but nothing comes. Instead, he feels a blast of wind behind him and he turns in time to catch sight of the small shuttlepod whizzing past him. It gets to Kliss before Jongin does and a man hops out to grab Kliss’s arms and clasp his wrists together with a pair of plasma handcuffs. 

“Hey!” Jongin calls out, running forward before the man hauls Kliss up onto his shuttlepod. “What the hell are you doing?”

The man looks up and Jongin balks when he recognizes him; it’s the hot guy he’d bought a drink for back at the bar. A flash of recognition runs across his face and the guy grins widely, reaching back for something in his pocket and Jongin tightens his grip on his gun warily. Instead of a weapon, the man pulls out a crumpled paper, smoothing it out before showing it to him and Jongin recognizes the familiar wanted sign with Kliss’s face plastered all over it, the prize money marked in red across the poster. He’s a bounty hunter too and he just got the pot Jongin’s been chasing after for weeks. He grits his teeth, listening to Baekhyun fuming over the com. 

“Maybe we’ll save that drink for another time,” the man says, hopping back into his shuttlepod and revs it up, throwing him a wink before speeding off in a trail of dust. Jongin stands there feeling mildly flabbergasted and very ticked off. 

He almost considers going back to the bar for another drink or five but he decides against it, huffing and calling Baekhyun grumpily to come and get him with the ship.

 

ϟ

 

Baekhyun taps in the keys to pull up several windows on his screen and has a picture of the man Jongin met up in seconds. 

“Oh, woah. Lee Taemin, I’ve heard of him!” Baekhyun says in awe, reading out the details written under the picture of him. 

“Notorious for his speed and long range target shots, hmm,” Baekhyun turns to grin at Jongin. “You better step up your game.”

Jongin scowls, thinking about how he was actually _flirting_ with the guy moments before the chase. He flicks at the screen grumpily, scrolling past the details until he lands on a section below, displaying a picture of another man. He’s Taemin’s tech provider and Jongin recognizes his face. 

“Oh, I’ve heard of this guy,” he throws back pointedly. “I hear there’s he’s the number one guy with connections across the universe. Do Kyungsoo.”

It’s Baekhyun’s turn to sulk, his expression darkening sullenly. 

“He’s nothing special,” Baekhyun mutters, flicking the screen off and turning away, still grumbling about all the newest custom models of the gear and tools he’d gotten for him and Jongin with his own connections. 

Jongin chuckles, watching him go. Sighing, he slumps down in his seat, thinking about the bag of gold he could be lugging around right now, ready to spend. Baekhyun’s right; he needs to step up his game.

 

ϟ

 

It doesn’t take too long to find another target with a bounty on their head. There are countless fugitives fleeing across the universe, thieves, pirates and prisoners alike.

They’ve landed a weapon trafficker this time, Glao from the Rock Provinces. He’s got a thousand golden piece bounty on his head. Baekhyun had immediately gotten to work on finding him the second the notice came out, cross scanning his face with security footage and his upgraded sensor. He’s always been good at finding people when they’re under pressure from time and competition. 

Jongin takes the shuttlepod from the ship down to the land, using the coordinates Baekhyun gives him over the com. This part of the city is heavily industrialized and full of traffic both wheel and airborne so it’s hard to see clearly but it’s hard to be seen too so it’s good cover. 

“He’s in that house by the bar,” Baekhyun tells him over the coms and Jongin peers around the corner where he’s standing carefully hidden. “It belongs to a guy called Langin, he’s got a history of smuggling too. Glao must be trying to strike another business deal.”

Jongin hangs back, having no choice but to wait and bide his time until Glao emerges again. He's standing in the middle of the rows where the food stalls are and sticks out like a sore thumb, so he shifts slowly, keeping his eyes peeled while he tries to blend in.

He fishes into his pocket for some coins, thumbing over them as he looks over the displays of avocado.

"Have you tried the apples here? They're divine."

Jongin turns in time to see Taemin standing there, biting into a red apple in his hands. He holds it out as if offering to him but Jongin reaches out under his arm, picking one from the pile of green apples and drops a few coins into the merchant's palm.

"Green is better," he says, biting a chunk out of his own fruit. Taemin grins wider, intrigued.

"So. Fancy seeing you here. Jongin right?" he says, leaning back against the stall. He picks out a batch of grapes from the selection, plucking one off the root and popping it into his mouth. He closes his eyes as he chews, making a low pleased sound as he swallows slowly. Jongin can't tear his eyes away.

"Want one?" Taemin grins, offering a grape and the look in his eyes says he knows he's got Jongin flustered. He raises his hand like he's going to feed it to him but Jongin plucks it away with his fingers, eating it by himself. Taemin pushes his lower lip out as Jongin munches on the grape contently, turning to glance at the house around the corner again.

Taemin casually moves closer but Jongin can see his eyes sharpening as they glance across the street too, clearly on the same target.

"You followed me around across space just to woo me?" Jongin says, the corners of his mouth curling upwards. "I’m touched."

Taemin looks delighted, grinning back at him, very aware of the game he's playing. When he shifts, Jongin catches sight of the laser gun he's carrying by his side, a different model from his own, more suited for long range shots.

“Would hate to miss out on all this,” Taemin says. He waves a hand around the market stalls, jutting his chin out at the house Glao went into but his eyes stay fixed on Jongin. 

Jongin feels his face heat up under the scrutiny but holds his ground, lowering his eyes to the fruit again. He hears the com crackling to life again and Baekhyun’s voice comes in.

“ _He’s coming_.”

Jongin straightens up and sucks in a deep breath. Taemin is still pinning him with a heavy look and Jongin offers him a smile, stepping closer. He can tell Taemin is listening to Kyungsoo’s instructions through his own com, watching his eyes dart away to the house for the briefest second before coming back to Jongin’s. 

“You still owe me a drink,” Jongin says. 

Taemin hums, grinning wider and closer the distance further. “I do.”

“ _Go!_ ”

Jongin takes off running at the same time that Taemin does, darting out from the path of the stalls to jump into the street. Jongin just catches the last glimpse of his smile before he takes a different route, clearly heading towards a higher point for better range at a shot. Jongin picks up the pace, leaping over the barrels in the way. Close range is where Jongin excels and he’s determined to get this one this time. 

Glao sees him coming and immediately breaks into a run, pushing through a crowd of people in his scramble to get away. He tears into a side street and Jongin hurdles over the trashcan Glao tries to throw him off with, leaping and pushing a foot off the wall to give him a boost. 

Panicking, Glao stumbles, nearly crashing into the dumpster but just manages to skirt away. Jongin swings himself through a hollow groove in the wall, sliding into the small space hidden behind to take a shortcut out in the street, gaining on him quickly. He’s acutely aware that Taemin is somewhere overhead. He sees the cart just an inch ahead of Glao explode when a laser beam hits it and Glao skids in another direction, diving into a back alley. Jongin darts after him, unhooking his laser gun from his holster. 

Jongin sees the laser coming, moving fast to kick up a garbage can lid from the ground, snatching it up and flinging it forward in time to deflect the laser beam before it hits. 

“Nice try!” he calls out, turning to see Taemin frown comically, one roof away. 

“Dick!”

Jongin grins, hearing Baekhyun whooping in his ear through the com. Glao darts through a narrow canopied path between two buildings, the fabrics market, granting only one entrance to the other end and Jongin veers off the path to find a shortcut, vaulting onto a stack of crates to launch himself up onto the balcony up above. He’s almost up at Taemin’s level here, able to see him make his way across to the next roof from here. Jongin moves quickly, leaping onto the next balcony ahead, leading a path above the canopies over to the other end, keeping his balance carefully. He can’t see Glao through the colourful canopy but he can hear him wreaking havoc as he makes his way through.

Taemin glances over his shoulder, throwing a bright grin Jongin’s way and a two fingered salute before leaping off the next edge, ziplining over to the next building. Jongin picks up his speed, grinning so hard he nearly loses focus when he jumps down from the last balcony, catching himself on a flagpole and sliding down to ground level deftly. 

He can see Glao again up ahead, frantic to shake him off and Jongin barrels forward, easily catching up to his speed and throws himself forward, pummeling right into him to send them both crashing to the ground. 

Glao yells, struggling under Jongin’s weight, trying to throw him off but Jongin yanks his hands behind his back, binding them together and finally knocks him out with the stun dart Baekhyun had given him earlier. Glao finally stills and Jongin heaves in relief, still panting heavily from the entire chase. He sits on the ground by Glao’s unconscious body, waiting for Taemin to come down and catch up. 

Sure enough, Taemin rounds the corner seconds later, leaning his gun back against his shoulder, already aware that he’s too late. Despite that, he’s grinning, his chest heaving as he tries to catch his breath too. He sighs at Glao’s still figure, balancing a hand on his hip exasperatedly, nodding his defeat. 

“I guess this evens out the tally,” Jongin says, tapping his control watch to call the shuttlepod down to his level.

“Till next time,” Taemin grins good naturedly, holstering his gun. He holds his hand out to Jongin. 

“Next time, huh?” Jongin chuckles, taking Taemin’s hand to shake before letting him pull him up. Taemin smiles wider, letting the question hang as he squeezes Jongin fingers a little tighter, lingering before letting him go. 

Deep down, Jongin actually likes the sound of that, anticipating the next time they might cross paths again.

“You’ve got some good moves, “Taemin admits, smiling up at him. His eyes crinkle when he does that.

“ _Hey loverboy_ ,” Baekhyun’s voice crackles in his ear again and Jongin startles, having almost forgotten about him. “ _Wrap it up and get your ass back to the ship._ ”

Jongin flushes at the name and hoists Glao onto the shuttlepod, hopping on behind him. Taemin throws him a lazy wave before Jongin takes off, the lingering image of his smile burnt into his brain.

 

ϟ

 

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”

Jongin whips around to come face to face with Taemin, yet again, standing a little too close, right in his breathing space. He takes a step backwards, swallowing and self consciously fixing his low cut shirt. This was the best he could find to blend in properly with the people in the club, donning a pair of skinny black pants and a low cut black shirt. 

Taemin looks positively sinful. He’s got tight leather pants hugging his thighs and a loose white shirt exposing his collarbones and sliver of his chest. Jongin thinks he smells cinnamon when he leans in close. 

“You look good,” he manages, because his brain is shortcircuiting and he can’t work his tongue up into saying anything else.

“ _Smooth_ ” Baekhyun says in his ear and Jongin snaps himself out of it, a moment too late though because Taemin is smiling devilishly. 

“Ditto,” he breathes, leaning into Jongin and pushing a drink into his hand. “Here’s that drink I owe you.”

Jongin grins, breathing a little more easily and he takes the glass, letting his fingers slide over Taemin’s, watching the way his expressions shifts, softens, then twists with devious delight. He takes a small sip for lack of anything better to do with his hands, holding it out to clink the glass against Taemin’s. He spots his target coming in through the door over the rim of his glass. 

“Gotta go,” he says, setting down the glass on the bar counter. He leans in close to Taemin’s ear to be heard over the loud, booming music. “Thanks for the drink.”

He wonders if he just imagines the way Taemin shivers right before he grabs onto Jongin’s elbow as he starts slipping away. 

“Who’s your mark?” he asks curiously, peering into the crowd to follow Jongin’s line of vision. 

He shouldn’t be giving away his target, especially not to a rival bounty hunter, but Jongin tells Taemin anyway, feeling a strange surge of trust. 

“Red jacket.”

Taemin’s face lights up inexplicably, beaming. 

“Brilliant,” he grins, nudging Jongin to look somewhere else, just a little over to the right. “Mine’s the green one.”

Jongin finally gets it when Taemin’s mark in the green jacket makes his way through the dancing crowd to get to his own mark, clasping a hand on his shoulder. Their bounty targets know each other. 

Jongin raises his eyebrow at Taemin. “Are you saying we should team up?”

“I’m saying we should dance,” Taemin hungs, tugging him away from the bar by the wrist right into the middle of the dancing throng of people, out on the dancefloor. 

Jongin laughs, following him. It’s a good way to blend in with the crowd till they have to make a move on their marks. 

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t flush when Taemin presses up close to him, so thrown off balance that he almost forgets he should be moving to the beat. 

“I know you can do better than that,” Taemin teases and Jongin rises to the challenge with a grin, shaking out of his initial stiffness and sways his hips in time with the pulsing music. He can see their marks over Taemin’s shoulder, slipping into the VIP lounge with a number of other people. 

The beat changes, deeper, more smooth and they shift close enough to almost start grinding up against each other, swaying their hips to the tune. Jongin’s hands creep up to Taemin’s hips after Taemin reaches a hand up along his neck, drawing him closer. Their lips have inched so close together that they’re only a hair’s breadth apart. 

Jongin is distracted from everything else, barely even hearing the music anymore other than the thrum and vibration in his ears. Taemin is still smiling at him but the look in his eyes is scorching, lowered at half mast as he sways even closer, pushing up against Jongin’s hips. 

He leans up closer to murmur right into Jongin’s ear, to be heard over the music. 

“Those must be their contacts,” he says, swaying Jongin around to get a look at their marks himself this time. “Weapons?”

“Drugs,” Jongin says, feeling the hot skin of Taemin’s stomach when his hand accidentally slips under his shirt. He doesn’t pull away. Taemin actually gets distracted by his touch, lowering his eyes almost shyly despite the position they’re in and Jongin’s heart stutters in his chest. Shuffling a little closer, Taemin’s hands creeup up around his waist, tickling a pattern up Jongin’s back. 

“They’re on the move,” he says suddenly, slipping his hand into Jongin’s in one swift movement, keeping up the act and pulling him out of the dancing crowd over to the edge of the club, closer to where their marks are moving. They step into a back room, guarded by two very beefy bouncers and close the door behind them. Taemin pushes Jongin up against the wall, taking him completely by surprise when he leans in closer, much closer than before, and ducks down to drag his lips faintly across Jongin’s throat. Jongin shivers but he catches on quickly, sliding his fingers into Taemin’s hair while his heart explodes silently behind his ribs. Taemin’s angling his face away from the bodyguards, maintaining the semblance that they’re making out and Jongin’s throat is so dry it feels like he hasn’t touched a drop of water in years.

“They’re coming back,” Jongin manages tightly, watching their marks emerge over Taemin’s head.

“Hmm. Shame,” Taemin hums, still just barely brushing his lips along the skin of his neck and Jongin can’t breathe. 

Taemin finally pulls back properly, managing a subtle glance over his shoulder, spotting their marks heading out the back door. 

“Shall we?”

He pushes himself off Jongin, but Jongin’s lungs still feel like they’re being crushed. It takes him a few seconds to make his limbs move to follow after Taemin, getting his laser gun ready for the chase.

 

ϟ

 

“ _That was a risky fucking move you pulled, are you fucking kidding me!_ ” Kyungsoo is swearing at Taemin so loudly Jongin can actually hear him over the com when Taemin pulls it out of his ear, holding it away from him. 

Jongin pants, standing over their disarmed and knocked out marks, lying bound by the wall. He can’t say he disagrees with Kyungsoo; it really was a dangerous move. They were spotted the second they left the club, as expected, starting them off on a high speed chase through the dark streets. Both of them were armed up to their ears with weapons, shooting back at them as good as they got. Taemin tried a different route, resorting to it before they managed to get away. The pier needed to be blocked before they could get to the docks and escape on the boat waiting there for them. Taemin’s idea was to steal the motorbike sitting on a high ledge, not bothering to drive it to a safer level before zooming forward to try and get ahead of them. Jongin realized what he was doing in time to cover for him, keeping both their marks’ attention on him before they tried to shoot at Taemin and blow up his engine with him. It worked well enough once they boxed them in and nabbed them from both side, though even Jongin has to admit the stunt was way too reckless. 

“Hey spoilsport, at least we can pay for Spaceflix now,” Taemin calls into the com in his fingers, grinning cheerfully as he tucks it into his pocket. Jongin has to laugh incredulously at how unphased he is by the risk he just took.

“You should come by our ship,” Taemin says then. He’s got that wide smile curling at his lips again, the one that’s starting to make Jongin’s stomach flip flop all over itself. “Tell Baekhyun to come too. We’re stationed over by the Valley port, by the fringe of the trees.”

He’s already turned, hoisting his mark onto his shuttlepod to leave. Turning, he throws Jongin a wave before flying off and Jongin is left to deal with his own unconscious mark, hoisting his heavy weight onto his own vehicle, ready to cash him in before anything else. 

 

Once they’ve cashed in their reward, Jongin and Baekhyun head over to the Valley where Taemin said their ship was docked, seeing it coming into view when they break out of the path between the trees.

The back ramp has been left open, presumably in expectancy of their arrival and Baekhyun hoists himself up first, gawking in awe at some of the tech and guns left out on the hanger display by the walls. 

“This is the 5000x duo model,” Baekhyun breathes, stepping closer to one of the bigger plasma weapons, his eyes going wide like a child on Christmas day. He reaches out to touch it but he’s suddenly yanked back, and Jongin realizes that this must be Kyungsoo pinning Baekhyun to the wall, with a dark expression on his face. Baekhyun looks inexplicably charmed. 

“Nice guns” he says but he’s looking at Kyungsoo’s arms where he’s got one elbow pressed into his throat. Taemin emerges from the cockpit, patting Kyungsoo’s shoulder to get him to ease up and let him go. Baekhyun wheezes when Kyungsoo pulls his elbow away and Jongin pats his back sympathetically.

“Come on,” Taemin says, ushering them deeper into the ship. “I got pizza.”

He slings an arm around Baekhyun’s shoulders, surprisingly friendly for two people who have only just met in person for the first time, but Baekhyun takes it into stride like the social butterfly that he is, chatting enthusiastically. 

They have to order more pizza after they’ve cleaned out the boxes Taemin had, all of them still ravenous after a long day. Taemin shows them around the ship while they wait for the delivery drone to arrive, turning on the TV for some background noise. 

Kyungsoo grabs Jongin’s elbow to catch his attention at one point, and Jongin turns to him in surprise.

“Thanks for having Taemin’s back,” he says quietly, throwing a dirty look Taemin’s way as he says it. “He can be stubborn and reckless sometimes. I’m just glad you were there for that last one.”

Taemin looks mildly sheepish, butting his shoulder into Kyungsoo’s a little sulkily but Kyungsoo shoves him away. 

Jongin beams, keeping his eyes fixed on Taemin even though he isn’t looking back at him. “Any time.”

 

ϟ

 

Jongin helps Baekhyun when he decides the ship needs a full clean and recalibration of the control systems to update the system. After their last bust, they’ve decided to take a week off, taking some time to wind down and relax for a change on a well deserved break. 

“So, are we going to talk about your crush, or what?” Baekhyun starts suddenly, casually scrubbing a stain off the gun hanger. Jongin nearly drops the lightbulb he’s polishing.

“Hyung,” Jongin grumbles, glaring at the ground to avoid Baekhyun’s gleeful expression. He can feel the back of his neck burning. 

“Oh, come on,” Baekhyun abandons the rag he’s using to come sit down next to Jongin instead. 

“It’s been a long time since either of us has stopped to settle down a little,” he says, gently this time. Jongin stares down at the bulb in his hands, thinking about how bright Taemin’s smile is. 

“I’m not sure where we are just yet,” Jongin murmurs, feeling the phantom warmth of Taemin’s body pressed up against him, his hot breath on his skin before it disappears. 

“Well it looks like you might be in pretty deep with this one. I’ve never seen you like this with anyone before,” Baekhyun smiles, reaching over to pat his knee. 

“Well, except me, of course, because I’m just irresistible-”

Jongin shoves him aside, pleased with the loud yelp Baekhyun lets out.

 

ϟ

 

The annual space game competitions are back in full swing again this time of the month, the festival stalls and high structures for the games stretching out as far as Jongin can see. He’s taking a look around, chewing on some Terra candy he bought when he arrived. The first arena he walks past catches his interest, chuckling quietly at the vortex balloon popping contest going on in the middle. He accidentally bumps into someone, distracted by the games and nearly trips.

“Oh, sorry- Taemin?”

He shouldn’t even be surprised at this point, not that he’s unhappy about it. Taemin looks pleased to see him, falling into step with him as they walk along the colourful stalls and take everything in. 

“Baekhyun’s not with you?” Taemin asks, looking around like Baekhyun will pop up from somewhere. 

Jongin blinks in surprises. “He said he was hanging out with Kyungsoo today.” 

Taemin’s eyebrows arch on his forehead, this piece of information clearly new to him. His mouth curls into a grin, looking entirely too gleeful and intrigued. 

“Really now?” he chuckles. “Kyungsoo told me he was heading into town to get some ‘supplies’.” 

Jongin barks out a laugh at the idea that Kyungsoo is trying to sneak around when Baekhyun is so open about it. 

“Well, he could definitely use the break,” Taemin sighs, shoving his hands into his pockets. “There’s been nothing on the radar for a while so we can wind down a little.” 

Jongin nods empathetically, already doing exactly that with Baekhyun. They round another row of food stalls, coming out into a wider path where a crowd of people are gathering around a large holographic screen where the game will be broadcast live. This part is the main event of the whole festival that everyone comes to see. 

Taemin stops in front of the large advertisment poster listing the details of the event. It’s a stealth obstacle course in the form of a shooting battle between teams. Winners get the grand prize. 

“Interested?” Jongin asks, already knowing the answer. The competition is specific for teams of two.

“Are you trying to make beg?”

Jongin pretends to think about it for a moment. “Maybe a little.”

Taemin rolls his eyes and nudges him towards the sign up booths anyway, listing them down as partners in a team together. 

The laser guns they’re given are low caliber, non lethal lasers. Jongin straps on the vest they give him and clinks the nozzle of his gun against Taemin’s before they’re ushered towards the entrance of the obstacle course, separate from all the other teams so that they all enter from different points of the area. Last team standing wins. 

The whistle goes off and they head into the closed arena. It’s dark in here, very dimly lit and laden with corners that throw shadows across their path. They stick close together, watching every corner closely in case someone leaps out at them. 

They come out into a small valley the deeper they make their way into the arena, the entire space opening up and stretching out far and wide, offering more places to hide and lie in wait. Jongin keeps his eyes peeled and sure enough he sees the flash of a laser going off seconds before he manages to yank Taemin out of the way, firing back as a distraction to buy them enough time to dive for cover behind a large boulder. Taemin nods gratefully, waiting a few more seconds before ducking out again and firing off his own volley of lasers, beaming when he draws back behind the boulder. 

“Two down,” he grins and Jongin beams, bringing his hand up to meet Taemin’s fist bump. 

They start working up to a streak of dead on shots, moving seamlessly through the obstacles, working perfectly together, compatible to a T. It only takes the slightest movement for Taemin to interpret Jongin’s signal, covering his back while Jongin has his, effectively taking down the rest of the teams one by one. Jongin is conscious of how well they compliment each other’s tactics and skills, fitting together like a unit as though they’ve been at this for years. 

They almost get busted at one point when they’re taking down another team up ahead in a narrow pipeline pathway. The space is so narrow they can barely fit in side by side, the path too filled with piles of rubble and uneven bulges in the walls. Another team makes its arrival known by the laser beams they release, just barely missing them when they smash into the pile of rubble behind them. It’s lucky it’s so dark in here. Jongin is too occupied dealing with the duo up ahead and he nods that he’s got this. Taemin immediately turns on his heel and surprises him by stepping in front of him, pressing right up against Jongin’s front to lean his elbows down on Jongin’s shoulders, bracketing his neck. He shoots at the team behind them like that, keeping the side of his face pressed up against Jongin’s cheek to see past him. Jongin somehow manages to keep his guns steady even with the proximity, finally taking out the targets ahead of him, yet still feeling like he’s taking ten laser beams to the chest right about now.

“We make a great team huh,” Taemin grins and Jongin laughs breathlessly, shoving him off before yanking him back in to hook his hand on Taemin’s belt.

They end up winning the whole thing, the last team still standing in the arena without a single strike from a laser shot. Everyone else has been knocked out. 

The event host ushers them onto the small stage set up by the screens, announcing their win to the crowd and Jongin holds the trophy up with Taemin, grinning as the audience applauds them loudly. The real prize is access to one of the sponsored luxury ships for a day, complete with special privileges. Jongin looks over at Taemin, shrugging and grinning widely when the host hands them the key to the ship. Might as well enjoy the luxury being handed to them. Taemin grabs Jongin’s hand when the applause finally dies down and they’re ushered off the podium, holding on tightly to the trophy as he pulls him out from the crowd of people. Jongin is content to let him lead the way to the luxury ship, focusing on the warmth of Taemin’s hand on his own.

 

There’s a platterful of fried chicken waiting for them when they get there, courtesy of the festival’s main sponsor. Jongin is starving, already drooling at the sight of the food and they gorge on chicken ravenously. Taemin keeps licking his greasy fingers and Jongin can’t stop staring, laughing at the mess Taemin is making. Taemin eyes him back just as intently, his boot knocking into Jongin’s absently under the table. 

Jongin spots the pendant hanging out of Taemin’s shirt when he leans down over the table, gleaming a dark shade emerald green. He asks about it, having spotted it before since Taemin’s always wearing it. He realizes that it must have some sort of sentimental value. Taemin looks down at the necklace, a soft smile ghosting over his lips. 

“My mother gave it to me when I was a kid,” he says. “She used to tell me she reached up and grabbed one of the stars for me to keep me safe. It’s my good luck charm.”

Jongin smiles at that. Something about Taemin’s nostalgic tone tells him that his mother might not be around anymore, and he doesn’t pry further. He jumps over to something else, curious about how Taemin started out in this line of work and clearly Taemin has been wondering the same thing about him too, just as curious with his own questions about Jongin’s past bounty catches.

“Hang on. That was _you_?” Taemin exclaims, setting down his chicken as he stares at Jongin incredulously. 

Jongin takes a pleased bite out of his own chicken leg, nodding. He’s been responsible for raking in some big bounties here and there, snagging some marks from the wanted list who had been on the run for years already. Taemin looks thoroughly impressed, a smile inching over his lips, keeping his eyes fixed on Jongin as he eats. 

“Have you ever thought about doing something besides this?” Jongin asks suddenly, a thought crossing his mind. 

Taemin munches thoughtfully, taking a sip of water to wash the food down. 

“I guess I’ve thought about maybe getting a bigger ship once we get a big enough bust to afford it,” Taemin starts. “Maybe head out even deeper into space, to the Outer Lands.”

Jongin nods, surprised to find that he’s mulled over the same exact things for himself too when he’s taken a moment to really think about it. “What about settling down?”

Taemin shrugs, licking some grease off his thumb. He’s eyeing Jongin, his lips darting down to his mouth when Jongin wets his lips, before coming back up to stare at him heatedly. 

“Only if there’s something worth settling down for,” he says, looking Jongin dead in the eye. 

Jongin is on him before he’s even finished, tugging him out of his chair to kiss him hard and Taemin sighs into his mouth, sliding his tongue along Jongin’s lip. His hands come up to cup the back of his head, drawing Jongin in closer still, licking into his mouth and kissing him fervently. 

“Still, admit it,” Jongin gasps, breaking off for a moment. “You could never give this up.” 

Taemin reels him in again, angling his head to kiss him deeper and Jongin’s knees go weak, grounding himself with his hands on Taemin’s hips. 

“Neither could you,” Taemin breathes, mouthing along his jaw. He pulls back suddenly, yanking Jongin forwards by the front of his shirt as he steps backwards into one of the bedrooms. The buttons of his shirt go flying when Taemin rips it open, and Jongin laughs breathlessly, busying himself with the button on Taemin’s pants. They strip haphazardly until Jongin pushes him back down on the bed, climbing over him to kiss him. 

Taemin flips him over with a leg hooked around his knee, kissing him messily and smiling into his mouth. There are no clothes left between them and Jongin shudders at the touch of Taemin’s warm skin sliding against his. 

Taemin straddles his thighs, and Jongin can feel the hot weight of his cock pressing into his skin, already hard. He slides his hands up over his head on the bed, sighing when Taemin arches him off the bed by his waist, leaning down to kiss his sternum. He marks a trail, kissing his way up along Jongin’s neck and reaches up to slide his fingers into Jongin’s palms, pinning him down. Jongin strains to arch himself up to try and deepen the kiss, frustrated when Taemin keeps pulling back. 

He slides off Jongin’s thighs, reaching over the edge of the bed to get to his discarded pants, struggling to tug his wallet out. Jongin edges after him, reaching around to take him into his hand and jerk him off slowly, pleased at the groan he manages to pull out of him while Taemin’s hands are busy. Knocking him back, Taemin laughs breathlessly as he slides in between Jongin’s thighs. 

He kisses him again to take his mind off the intrusion, easing him open gently and scissoring his fingers before adding another and pressing in deeper. Jongin moans, keening into his mouth and Taemin pulls away to kiss him on the cheek, surprisingly tender. 

His whole body feels overheated and Jongin can’t hold still, dragging his fingers down along Taemin’s skin, pressing his nails down along his arms and up his back, marking him. He tugs at Taemin’s hair lightly, a warning to hurry up because he can’t summon up the right words.

Taemin grins, biting on Jongin’s chin lightly before drawing his fingers out slowly. He coaxes Jongin to turn over, rolling him on his side and slides in behind him, pressing up against his back. His warmth against Jongin’s skin is soothing, but he still shivers when Taemin pulls his leg up, holding it by the bend of his knee to spread him open. The push inside is slow and Jongin groans loudly as Taemin fills him up, moaning into the back of Jongin’s neck. 

He stills for a moment, letting Jongin settle, pressing his lips into his skin before grinding his hips into him slowly. Jongin’s jaw goes slack as he pushes in deeper, overwhelmed by the fullness pressing up against the spot that’s making his toes curl. He reaches back to grab onto what he can reach of Taemin’s thigh, trying to ground himself when Taemin sets up a steady rhythm, fucking into him harder. 

Taemin lets go of his leg, holding his thighs apart with a leg hooked behind his knee instead and throws an arm over Jongin’s waist, sliding his hand across his stomach, and holding on to his chest tightly, hugging Jongin closer into him.

He tucks his chin over Jongin’s shoulder, kissing behind his ear and breathing hotly against his skin as he rolls his hips. 

“You feel amazing,” Taemin murmurs, his words punctuated with a moan and his arm squeezes tightly around Jongin’s waist. 

Jongin holds on to his hand and pushed his hips back, moaning in time with Taemin’s steady thrusts. His leg slips from Taemin’s grip and he can hear the way Taemin moans into his skin when Jongin squeezes tighter around him. He mouths along the back of Jongin’s shoulder and he melts in the way Taemin holds him closer. 

Taemin’s hand slides down to Jongin’s cock, hard and aching, dripping precum on the sheets and he curls his fingers around him tightly, pumping quickly. It’s enough to overwhelm Jongin too much to hold on any longer, coming with a cry all over the sheets and Taemin’s fingers. 

He can hear Taemin’s breathy chuckle in his ear, gone in a second when he groans again, rolling his hips harder until he rides it out. He’s still fisting Jongin’s cock, over sensitive enough that his touch sends shockwaves through him and he whimpers into the pillow. He finds enough energy to squeeze around Taemin one more time to push him over the edge and Taemin buries his face in the crook of Jongin’s neck, muffling his broken moan in his skin as he comes. 

He slumps down heavily against him, smacking a big wet kiss on his neck before pulling out, cleaning up quickly. Still riding on the lingering high, Jongin rolls over to tug Taemin back in by the back of his neck and kisses him hard, long and heated despite how drained he feels. 

Taemin’s is beaming when he pulls away, slumping tiredly against the pillow. He stretches, spreading himself out across the whole bed, nudging into Jongin’s limbs teasingly. Grinning, Jongin rolls his eyes and shifts to flop on top of him instead, draping himself along his front. It’s a little to hot for this but Taemin seems to be comfortable, winding an arm around Jongin’s waist to keep him there. 

Nosing along his cheek, Jongin kisses a path down his jaw, stopping at the corner of his mouth until Taemin turns his head to meet his lips, tender again in the way his mouth moves slowly against his. 

He dozes off somewhere in between their soft exchange of kisses, lulled to sleep by the heat of Taemin’s skin. 

 

There’s a lot of movement when Jongin cracks his eyes open, squinting in the harsh light of the morning. Once he blinks the blurriness out of his eyes, he can make out Taemin pulling his clothes on, slipping into his shirt again. 

“Morning, sleepyhead.”

He sits on the edge of the edge, brushing Jongin’s hair back away from his eyes and he hums at the soothing movement. 

“I have to go. Kyungsoo needs me,” Taemin says apologetically. Jongin whines sleepily, forcing himself to shake it off so he can sit up, pushing himself up to level with Taemin’s face. 

Taemin leans in first, biting his nose because Jongin can’t really expect otherwise. It makes him laugh though and that’s when Taemin sweeps in, kissing him languidly, heated enough to chase the sleepiness away. 

“Okay, I really have to go now,” Taemin pulls back suddenly, sounding breathless and Jongin groans, slumping down against the sheets again. 

“I’ll see you later, right?” he says, pulling on his boots and Jongin smiles. 

“Count on it.”

 

ϟ

 

He manages to avoid Baekhyun’s smug leering when he gets back to the ship by slipping straight into the shower, slumping down on his bed when he done and sinking into another long nap, his body still completely worn out. 

It’s late in the afternoon when he wakes up again, and he wonders if it’s too soon to go find Taemin again. He ghosts his fingers along his neck where Taemin had mouthed along his skin and kissed him. 

Pushing himself off his bed, he pulls on his clothes and heads out, squinting in the bright sun. He doesn’t bother with the shuttlepod, preferring to walk along the grassy path leading up to the fringe of the Valley where Taemin’s ship is. 

The path opens up ahead and Jongin steps out into the clearing before stopping short. He blinks, taken aback. The ship isn’t there anymore. 

Frowning, Jongin wonders if he’d somehow stepped onto the wrong path but this _is_ the place they were docked at. Jongin can even see some faint scorch marks in the blades of grass over by a darker patch, where the jet fumes of the ship flared out. Taemin said they would be docked out here for a good while before needing to take off again. 

Maybe they just moved. He paces around, uncertain of what to do, wondering if he should just head back to the ship and wait until later. Still, something just isn’t sitting right with him, a gut feeling that’s nagging at him. Jongin taps his wristwatch, waiting until Baekhyun’s hologram pops up. 

“What’s up?”

“I need a favour,” hesays, tamping down the small bubble of panic growing in his chest. This is probably nothing. There’s nothing to worry about. “Taemin’s ship is gone. Can you reach Kyungsoo through the ship coms?”

Baekhyun frowns, his fingers darting across the keys on the control panel swiftly. 

“That’s weird. It’s coming up dead. Hang on let me-”

He types in another set of commands, frowning deeper the longer he types. 

“The radar isn’t picking them up,” Baekhyun says slowly. “I widened the search perimeter but it’s like they’re not even in the area.” 

Jongin swallows. They would have said something if they were leaving, wouldn’t they? He turns off the hologram, feeling a little lost. It’ll be dark soon; there’s nothing much he can do at night when he can’t see anything. Maybe they’ll be back in the morning. Shoving his hands into his pocket, Jongin casts one last look around the clearing, turning his face to the sky in search of any ship lights, a sign that they’re back, but there’s nothing. Sighing, he turns around and trudges back up the path he came, making his way back to his ship. 

 

They’re not back by the morning, nor the day after that. Jongin can’t swallow down the anxious lump rising in his throat, his stomach curling in on itself. Baekhyun still can’t get ahold of their communication coms because they’re out of range, too far away to be reached. There’s only stone cold silence on the other end of the connection. It’s futile, but Jongin heads out to the clearing to look for them again, walking around the entire perimeter, further and further in hopes that he’s spot the ship around each corner and cluster of trees he rounds. He even asks around town, if anyone’s seen Taemin or his ship around. It’s never a secret when bounty hunters are in town, especially someone as renowned as Taemin. 

“The Blackbird? Yeah, I saw it a couple of days ago,” he hits gold when he tries his luck with one of the merchants in the steel market. “Looked all packed up and ready to go. Took the route out of this orbit. Sorry, son, it must be long gone by now.” 

Jongin gapes at him wordlessly, feeling his heart squeeze painfully in his chest. He can feel a lump rising in his throat but he swallows it down, blinking furiously as he thanks the merchant and turns to head back to the ship. They left. He can feel himself falling apart, shattering little by little, crumbling harder the whole way back to his ship, crossed between numbness and the sharp, stabbing pain in his chest.

“I just- I don’t understand,” Jongin says shakily after he’s told Baekhyun what the merchant said. He leans against the wall heavily, sliding down to the floor. “I guess I was naive. I thought maybe- I thought we-”

He thought there was something more, that there was more to the way Taemin looked at him than just one night to toss aside and forget about. Baekhyun comes down to sit next to him wordlessly, looking upset too as he reaches over to settle his hand on Jongin’s knee comfortingly. Jongin feels a sharp, hot prickling in the corners of his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Jongin.”

“It just doesn’t make sense,” Jongin sighs, feeling his chest cave in harder. “He didn’t seem like-”

Baekhyun’s frown furrows deeper, his lips pressed together tightly and Jongin slips his hand over to clasp Baekhyun’s. 

“I didn’t think Kyungsoo was like that either,” he says quietly.

“Guess there was a lot we still didn’t know about them,” he says. There’s no bite in his tone, only the same dejection Jongin feels. 

 

He can’t sleep that night. The bed feels uncomfortable and he can’t seem to settle down, tossing and turning under the sheets until he finally kicks them off and sits up, not feeling the least bit sleepy. Sighing, he pulls on his boots and goes out for a walk to try and clear his head. It’s dark outside, a cold breeze sending a shiver down his spine and Jongin flicks on his flashlight to see where he’s going. Somehow, he finds himself on the very same path that leads down to the Valley, stepping out into the empty clearing again. 

He slows down to a stop, staring around the clearing, feeling the hollow heaviness settling in his chest again. He flashes the light around, like if he stands out here any longer, the ship will somehow miraculously come back. It doesn’t, of course, and Jongin swallows through the tightness in his throat again.

There’s no point staying here any longer. Jongin turns to leave but something halts his step, catching something through the corner of his eye. 

Frowning, he shines the flashlight over the patch of grass, scanning the ground and the green gleam shines again. Jongin’s eyes widen, rushing forward to pick it up. It’s Taemin’s necklace, the emerald green pendant gleaming brightly under the light. 

He thumbs over the stone pensively. There’s no way Taemin would leave without this. He remembers the look in Taemin’s eyes when he talked about the necklace, softening when he’d mentioned his mother. His stomach drops; something’s wrong. Jongin takes off, tearing back down the path and running all the way back to the ship. 

“Baekhyun!” he calls out when he clambers back into his ship, only slightly apologetic that he might be waking him up. “Baekhyun, something’s wrong.”

There’s no answer, and Jongin marches over to throw his bedroom door open, prepared to shake him awake. 

His bed is empty. 

“Baekhyun?”

He doesn’t see it coming, only catches a brief glimpse of a shadow moving behind him before something hard smashes into his skull and Jongin passes out in an explosion of white. 

 

ϟ

 

When Jongin comes to he can feel that they’re moving but he can’t make out much around him in the pitch darkness he’s engulfed in. The pain of the blow stings in his skull but he blinks it away, trying to focus. His hands are bound uncomfortably behind his back, making it harder to move. Jongin’s foot kicks against a hard edge and he recognizes that he’s squeezed in a small space with barely enough room to fit him in. The boot of a shuttle, maybe. He feels something warm pressed up against him, Baekhyun, he realizes, but he’s unresponsive, still out cold. 

He doesn’t have time to do anything else because the vehicle stops moving and light floods in when the boot door is yanked open. He doesn’t recognize the men dragging him out, stumbling along the long, dark corridor they tug him through before the piercing sound of grating metal meets his ears and he sees a steel door being pulled open. The man holding him kicks him into the cell and the first thing Jongin sees is Taemin’s face, staring up at him in shock where he’s sitting on the floor next to Kyungsoo. Jongin stumbles to the floor dizzily and Baekhyun gets thrown in after him. He’s a little worse for wear, with the dark bruises starting to bloom on his face; he must have put up a fight before they could jump him and knock him out. Kyungsoo immediately moves to tend to Baekhyun and Taemin crawls forward to him. The ropes around Taemin’s wrists fall away loosely, only kept around his hands to keep up the farce though he’d somehow managed his way out of them.

“Hey, easy,” he murmurs, working on Jongin’s restraints to help him up slowly. “Jongin, I’m-.” 

Jongin can tell he’s trying for an apology even though he’s done nothing to warrant it. He didn’t leave. He didn’t take off and leave Jongin behind like it was nothing. Taemin must have realized what it looked like when Jongin couldn’t find him anywhere. The relief crashes through him so hard his chest squeezes and his throat tightens up. Taemin’s hands are on his face, cool and soothing, trying to get him to focus when Jongin sways dizzily.

“Don’t be,” Jongin murmurs, a misplaced happiness settling behind his ribs considering the situation they’re in. He still leans in to sneak a kiss from Taemin, feeling him smile into it, pressing his lips back and Jongin has never been so glad to be so completely wrong in his whole life. 

A sudden groan draws them apart sharply. Baekhyun’s coming to, grunting in pain and trying to reach up and touch his face but he’s still too disoriented to find the coordination he needs. Kyungsoo is gentle in helping him sit upright, leaning him back against the wall for support. He finally spots Jongin there, his face crumpling apologetically.

“I’m sorry Jongin, I tried to warn you but they got to me before I could,” he says, frowning deeply.

Jongin waves him off immediately, not needing any apology. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

He’s slightly amused at how suddenly protective Kyungsoo is over Baekhyun this time, looking over the bruises on his face, but he doesn’t mention it. 

“So, who the hell are they?” Jongin finally asks, turning back to Taemin. “What is this place?”

“Funny story,” Taemin starts, scratching the back of his head. “Remember the marks we caught back at the club?”

Jongin nods, his thoughts veering off course into memories of the way Taemin’s hips moved to the music against his before snapping out of it. The targets, yes. 

“Well, you were right about them being in the drug business. They work for Rulan.”

“Fuck,” Jongin groans, dropping his head back to glare at the ceiling. Figures they would cross the biggest druglord across the universe. It’s no secret how many gangs and pirate clans he’s got under his thumb, running chains of black market industry all by himself. 

“We have a knack for pissing off the wrong people,” Baekhyun sighs grumpily. “What about our ships?”

“I overheard them saying something about an auction when they brought us here,” Kyungsoo says, frowning. “They must have some sort of docking port here to stash them away until it’s time for that.”

“Auction?” Jongin furrows his eyebrows. 

“There’s a bounty on bounty hunters’ heads too,” Kyungsoo goes on grimly. “There’s a long list of people who would like to get their hands on you guys.”

He’s cut short when the steel door starts to slide open again and they scramble to get the ropes back around their wrists, winding them around loosely. 

Rulan’s men march inside and drag them out roughly, pushing them along the same path they came through. Jongin has no idea where they are until they round the corner, coming out into the opening and he’s met by the sight of metal. They’re in the Steel Reefs. The city is almost entirely underground, fortified completely by metal; the centre of the black market business. The reef they’re on is so high off the ground, there’s only pitch darkness down below.

“Move it,” one the men shoves Jongin forward roughly when he slows down too to gather his bearings. 

He can hear the rumble of a crowd somewhere, belatedly spotting the lights shining from the fortress up ahead. That must be where the auction is taking place, and that’s exactly where Rulan’s men are taking them. Jongin bites his lip, trying to think of a plan quickly. If they’re in the auction centre then the docking port must be somewhere nearby with their ships too, prepped for display to be sold off. Jongin can see Baekhyun scanning the area sharply too, trying to figure out the same thing.

It’s subtle but he spots Taemin eyeing the ammunition belt strapped around the men’s hips, loaded with laser guns and plasma blasters. He gives Jongin the slightest nods and Jongin catches it. He times it right, waiting for the perfect moment with bated breath until the right opportunity presents itself. That moment comes when one of the men reaches up to fix the strap on his shoulder, aiming the barrel of his gun off target with the movement. Jongin breaks out of his loose restraints and smashes into the man shoving at him from behind, catching him off guard. He just manages to kick the gun out of his hands, sending it skidding away before the man can regain his balance.

The other men stop in their tracks, turning to charge at him instead and Baekhyun and Kyungsoo immediately take off running to go find their ships. 

“Duck!” Taemin yells and Jongin flattens himself on the floor just before Taemin fires one of the plasma guns he’d snagged off the men’s belts, taking them all down in seconds. 

There’s no time to celebrate. Taemin helps him up the second another lot of Rulan’s men burst out from the side, having heard the commotion. Jongin snatches up a gun for himself and they take off running, not sure where to even go from here with so many men hot on their trail. 

“Well here’s an interesting turn of events,” Taemin wheezes, laughing breathlessly there aren’t people trying to shoot them down right now. “Us being chased this time. Puts things into perspective don’t you think?”

Jongin just grunts, yanking Taemin out of the way just in time to avoid the shard of metal that explodes on the ground from a laser beam seconds later. 

“Over here,” Jongin wheezes, tearing around the next corner and sliding down a small slope off the path, hiding just as the men pass them by, not seeing them. They’re dangerously close to the edge here, and Jongin swallows nervously at the idea of slipping off and plummeting twenty stories or so to his death.

“So, how much do you think you’ve got on your head? Jongin asks instead, trying to distract himself once he’s had a moment to breathe. 

“Please,” Taemin scoffs, grinning. “I’m priceless.”

They’re stranded without their ear coms to communicate with the others, and Jongin looks around, trying to figure out what their next move is. He can’t even see an exit point from here. It’s like they’re trapped in a giant steel labyrinth.

“Hey.”

Jongin turns back to look at Taemin whose eyes have softened and his focus is entirely on him. It’s instinctive, the way they’re drawn closer together like there’s a magnetic pull between them. Taemin’s hand settles on Jongin’s knee, warm and reassuring. 

They’re interrupted by the sudden billowing sounds of jet blasters in the air and Jongin snaps his head up to see Baekhyun piloting their ship, with Kyungsoo at the wheel of his own beside him. Jongin sags with relief that they somehow managed to find their ships before they were auctioned off and taken away. Taemin looks frustrated that the moment’s been broken and Jongin laughs, pulling him up from the ground.

There isn’t enough space for the ships to land but there’s no time to waste when a sudden shout alert the others of where they are. Ducking low to dodge a line of plasma rays, Taemin yanks Jongin forward, setting them off in a sprint again, forced to get on the move again when they’re being chased. Another laser fires between them, singing the sleeve of Jongin’s shirt, just missing his face by a fraction. 

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo manage to keep their chasers at bay, firing back with the guns on the ship, directing some of the fire towards themselves. 

They’ve still got some of Rulan’s men on their heels though and Jongin tries to pick up the speed, his stomach dropping when he realizes that they’re running out of land to run on. Taemin sees the end of the high ledge coming closer too but there’s nowhere else to run that won’t get them caught again. 

“Just keep running,” Taemin yells, and Jongin trusts him, praying that he’s got some sort of plan. 

They reach the edge in seconds and Jongin’s feet leave the ground in one final leap, feeling his heart and stomach in his throat as he starts to plummet. He opens his mouth to yell, waiting for the excruciating impact when he hits the ground below. Instead, he hears the familiar whir of the shuttlepod engines zooming down to match their speed, maneuvered remotely by the mothership and Jongin yells in relief. The pod swings down beneath him and Jongin lands on the vehicle safely, hard enough to knock the breath out of his chest, but at least he’s not plummeting to his death anymore. Taemin flashes him a thumbs up when he swings around safely on his own pod, jutting his chin up to get the hell out of here.

It’s a lot easier to dodge the laser beams on the pods, flying and swerving out of the way skillfully. Taemin even finds the time to wave over his shoulder at Rulan’s furious men before swerving aside, circling around Jongin playfully before they separate, docking into their respective ships. Jongin has never been so glad to see the steel interior of his ship in his whole life. 

They’re not in the clear yet. The ships are still under fire and Jongin throws himself into the copilot seat the second he wrenches himself out of the pod, helping Baekhyun with the circuit controls to maneuver the ship out of the steel labyrinth they’re in. He takes over damage control while Baekhyun accelerates, trying to assess how much fire they’ve taken. 

A sliver of blue sky finally appears up ahead and Baekhyun blasts the ship into full speed, aiming for the exit point until they’re finally out in the open, way out of range for any more immediate attacks at least. 

He flies them out a safe distance, not slowing down just yet and Jongin works on getting the coms back up online, trying to connect to Taemin’s ship. It takes a little tweaking, Baekhyun’s better at this tech stuff than he is, but he finally manages to open a channel of communication, relieved right down to his bones to hear Taemin’s cheerful voice on the other end of the line, even though he was just with him moments ago. 

He lets Baekhyun take over the coms, discussing coordinates with Kyungsoo to set up a meeting point, far away from here. 

“Fuck, let’s never do that again,” Baekhyun sighs, like they even had a choice in this in the first place. He slumps back in his seat, setting the ship on autopilot once he’s punched in the coordinates. 

Jongin agrees wholeheartedly, thinking he’s probably lost at least ten years off his life from that jump alone. He clambers out of his seat to pull the first aid kit out of the compartment in the back, dealing with the open cuts still fresh on Baekhyun’s face. 

“Aw, come on, I’m fine,” Baekhyun laughs but Jongin insists anyway. He notices how uplifted Baekhyun looks, positively mollified, grinning like he can’t help himself and Jongin chuckles under his breath, settling back in his seat when he’s done. His grin is infectious and Jongin can feel the corners of his own mouth curling upwards too, relieved and thankful at how everything panned out. 

Baekhyun reaches over to slide his hand over Jongin’s knee, patting him gently and Jongin breathes easily, eager to get to the destination they planned to meet with the others.

 

ϟ

 

They take a long, well deserved break before getting back into their usual routine. Baekhyun insists on the weeklong binge on food and alcohol and Jongin feels like he might never move again. Taemin looks only too happy to buy them all another round of shots, giggling into Jongin’s neck a little drunkenly. Even Kyungsoo can’t stop laughing, as terrible at holding down his alcohol as jongin is. 

They get back into the bounty hunting routine eventually. As a team of course. They keep their own separate ships anyway despite teaming up. It’s good for privacy when Jongin wants to spend some time with Taemin alone. Baekhyun is only too eager to switch places, going over to the other ship to hang out with Kyungsoo. 

Besides; working on bounty hunts together is a lot more fun. 

They’re on a new chase, skirting through the streets of a busy town up by the Moorlands. It’s nighttime but the streets are brightly lit to exhibit the spring festival taking place. Jongin chases after the new mark, leaping over the stalls of food and darting through the throng of people quickly. He needs to lure him out in the open where there’s less people around. 

“Steer him left,” Taemin tells him through the coms. He’s somewhere overhead as usual, hopping across the rooftops in time with him to find a better vantage point to take aim. 

Jongin leaps over the low walls in his way, darting into a shortcut that lets him block the road when their mark tries to barrel his way. It forces him to change his direction, tripping over himself as he runs the other way, left, just as Taemin wanted. 

“I got it,” Taemin murmurs, and Jongin sees the laser beam coming, cutting through the air and landing right on target, stunning their target right in the chest. He crumples to the ground, unconscious and Jongin jogs over to where he is, binding his limp hands together anyway, just in case.

“Nice shot,” he grins, dragging the back of his hand across his sweaty brow. He can see Taemin taking the shuttlepod down to where he is, landing next to him and hopping off.

“Thanks,” he beams, kissing the air out of Jongin’s lungs before he’s even had the chance to get it back. 

Jongin flushes and rolls his eyes, helping Taemin hoist their target up onto the vehicle to take back. He sets a hand on Taemin’s backside comfortably as he climbs back on, grinning when Taemin turns to look back at him with a familiar glint in his eyes. Jongin climbs up with him, not bothered in the least that it’s a tight fit, and neither is Taemin by the way he leans back into him heavily. 

“This is the kind of settling down I could get used to,” Taemin says, turning to look over his shoulder. He’s smiling, disarming Jongin completely the way he always does. His heart expands in his chest and he smiles back, unable to take his eyes off Taemin, even with the all the brightest stars twinkling around them.


End file.
